Here are the teams to watch in OHSAA regional baseball tournaments
There are 64 high school baseball teams left in the Ohio High School Athletic Association tournament.
Seven of them are in the Cincinnati area. They will play in regional tournaments next week, fighting for the right to party in the state tournament in Akron June 7-9.
Here is a look at the regional tournaments.
More: Here are the top teams to watch in the KHSAA regional baseball brackets
Division I, Region 4
Site: Miami University’s McKie Field at Hayden Park.
Moeller (27-2) plays Vandalia Butler (26-6) at 3 p.m. Thursday, followed by Elder (22-8) and Mason (24-6) at 6 p.m. The championship game is 6 p.m. Friday, May 31.
This is one of the most loaded regional brackets in the state, with three top-10 teams and another top-20 team with plenty of history.
Moeller, the defending state champion, is ranked first in the final Ohio state coaches poll. Mason is seventh, with Butler ninth and Elder 19th.
Moeller has nine state titles all-time and Elder 12. Elder was state runner-up in 2021 and Mason in 2022. Butler has been to the state tournament once, in 2000.
Moeller and Butler is a rematch of a 1-0 win by the Aviators in eight innings May 11.
Moeller senior Kellan Klosterman, a Notre Dame signee, no-hit the Aviators for seven innings but the Aviators got one hit off of him and a run in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Crusaders were shut out by Butler junior Mason Reckner, who struck out 12 and allowed seven hits.
That was part of a current major roll by the Butler pitching staff, which has allowed one run or fewer in seven straight games, all wins. That includes a 1-0 win over Loveland in Thursday’s district final. Reckner shut out the Tigers on six hits to eliminate Loveland.
Klosterman is part of a dominant pitching staff that includes LSU commit Zion Theophilus (10-0, 0.86 ERA) and David Hagen (6-0, 1.65). Hagen pitched a perfect game against Hamilton in the district semifinals.
Sophomore Conner Cuozzo was named the Greater Catholic League-South player of the year after batting .444 with five home runs and 32 RBIs.
Elder and Mason did not play each other this season. Elder is led by senior Tyler Biggs, a first-team all-league player who is 4-3 with a 2.56 ERA, and batting .309 with 14 RBIs.
Pacing Mason is senior Jacob Hanley, an Indiana signee who is 7-1, 2.18 while hitting .378 with five homers and 29 RBIs. Hanley hit three home runs in the district tournament this week. He hit a two-run homer in a win over St. Xavier, then hit two home runs while throwing a no-hitter and striking out nine in a 5-0 win over Troy in the district final.
Moeller went 3-0 against Elder this season and outlasted Mason 7-5 in 10 innings April 20.
More: Moeller, Badin and Cincinnati Christian No. 1 in final SWOBCA polls
Division II, Region 8
Site: Mason High School
Indian Hill (22-6) plays Badin (24-6) in the regional semifinals 2 p.m. Thursday, May 30, followed by Plain City Jonathan Alder (27-2) and Kenton Ridge (21-4) at 5 p.m. The winners play in the regional final 5 p.m. Friday, May 31.
Badin’s pitching staff is on a roll, allowing only eight total runs in its last nine games. In the district tournament, Badin shut out Wyoming behind a one-hitter by sophomore Caleb Driessen, then shut down Tippecanoe as sophomore Beau Chaney threw six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven.
Driessen is 5-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Sophomore Carson Niehaus is 5-1, 2.07. The Rams have a team ERA of 1.91 and a team batting average of .356, averaging 8.5 runs on offense. Badin has five regulars hitting .360 or better.
Indian Hill is celebrating its first district championship since 1993, when the Braves made their only all-time state appearance, finishing as runner-up.
Badin has 14 state semifinal appearances, the last one in 2022, and two state titles.
The Braves won the district this week with outstanding pitching performances from seniors Nick Rinala and Ben Liebel.
The Braves and Rams did not play this season. IH has a team ERA of 2.18 led by Rinala (8-0, 1.24). The Braves average nearly nine runs per game led by seven players with 20 or more RBI. Rinala bats .405 with 20 RBIs and 35 steals.
Alder is the top-ranked team in the state coaches poll. Badin is sixth and Kenton Ridge 14th, while Indian Hill received one top-20 vote.
Alder and Kenton Ridge are in the same league, and Alder went undefeated, beating Kenton Ridge 5-3 and 10-0 along the way.
Alder has two state titles and hasn’t reached the semifinals since 2014. Kenton Ridge hasn’t gone since 2008.
Ashton Martin, an Alder junior, was the Central Buckeye Conference player of the year, batting .563 with 33 RBIs and 33 runs scored. He is also 5-0 with an 0.82 ERA. Senior Greg Kennedy is 7-0 with a 0.78 ERA. Alder averages eight runs per game and has a team batting average of .371.
Kenton Ridge has two pitchers with seven wins and an ERA under 1.00.
Division III, Region 12
Site: Wright State University
Cincinnati Christian (23-5) faces Brookville (21-9) in the first regional semifinal at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 30, followed by Cincinnati Country Day (20-7) vs. Heath (25-5) at 5 p.m. The championship game is 5 p.m. Friday, May 31.
Cincinnati Christian is in the regional tournament for the first time since losing in the Division IV regional finals in 2019, which was also the Cougars’ last league championship in the Miami Valley Conference until this season.
Senior Jackson Raby is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA, including the win in the district final over Arcanum.
The Cougars average eight runs per game and have a .359 team average.
Cincinnati Christian won both games against CCD by scores of 8-5 and 14-3.
CCD is coming off a 3-0 win in the district final over Versailles, ranked ninth in the state poll.
Senior Andrew Zimmerman pitched a three-hit shutout, striking out eight. Zimmerman is 4-3, 1.14, and bats .365 with 16 RBIs.
Senior Parker Corbin leads the Nighthawks by hitting .421 with three home runs and 35 RBIs. As a pitcher, he has a 4-0 record and a 2.27 ERA. Nate Paumier is 5-2, 3.78.
CCD’s opponent is the Heath Bulldogs from eastern Ohio, ranked second in the state. Heath averages more than 8.5 runs per game, led by senior Hayden Woodward, who has eight home runs and 46 RBIs and bats. 435. He is also 7-0 on the mound with a 1.38 ERA. The Bulldogs have two other starting pitchers with similar stats. Heath’s team ERA is a sparkling 1.19.
Brookville tied for first in the Southwestern Buckeye League-Buckeye with an 8-4 record. They average five runs per game and have a team ERA of 2.80 led by junior Lane Willoughby (7-2, 1.10).
CCD has state titles in 1993 and 2001 but hasn’t gone to state since that season. Cincinnati Christian has never gone to state.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who are the top Southwest Ohio baseball teams in the OHSAA regionals?
